Rotary engine.



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. (Application filed Jan. 28, 1902.) (No M odel.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l;

Nb. 702,675. Patented :une I7, |902.`

E. F. PICKETT. L

ROTARY ENGINE. I i (Application med Jah. 2s. 1902.) "3 (lo Model.) 3She'ets-Sheet 2.

No. 702,675. Painted :une I7, |902.

" E. F. PICKETT.

` ROTARY ENGINE'.

. (App1ia i'n med Jan. 2s, 1902.) l Y (No model.) 1,1 I a sheets-sheet3.

i rs weren: no. moroummwsmncfm o c UNITED STATES? ATENT trios.

EDWARD FORBES PICKETT, OF BUFFALO, NEVYORK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 702,675, dated June 17,1902. Application filed January'ZS, 1902. Serial No. 90l938. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern/.1

Be it known that I, EDWARD FORBES PICK- ETT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie, State of New York,have inventeda :new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines, ot whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to the class ofV rotary engines in which apiston-cylinder is pivoted concentric with the steam-cylinder.

The object of my invention is to provide a rotary engine having alimited number of moving parts and adapted to receive fluid energyduring a portion of its revolution, to expand the said fluid in compoundcylinders, to avoid a dead-center and permit starting the engine withthe piston in any position, and rotate in either direction.

I do not limit myself to the use of any particular fluid-pressure as amoving agent; but

for convenience in describing the operation of the engine I willdesignate steam as the motive power.

In the accompanying drawings like letters of reference show like parts,and the darkersection lining shows the movingcylinder or piston. l y

Figure l is a vertical section of a compound expansion-engine, takenthrough the small steam-chamber. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross,- sectionthrough both chambers. Fig. Sshows the gear arrangement for reversingthe eX- haust-valve. Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing the piston-lugof the first or high-pressure chamber passing under and displacing thefirst abutment. This figure also shows a modification of theexhaust-valve. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line H II, Fig. 4.Figs. 6, 7, and 8 shoviT modications in the arrangement of parts.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the engine is provided with two parallelsteam-chambers designed for high and low pressure and lying between twoconcentrically-arranged cylinders. The stationary cylinder A is formedwith an annular partitiona, which is gbored to fit the outside 'diameterof the piston B and separates the two steam-chambers. y A segmentalrecess Whose radius extends to the outer diameter of the piston isformed on each side of the said partition. Abutments O and C', havingradial wings ofequal length, which insures equal pressure against thewings, are

pivoted in the said recesses, and each abutment moves independently ofthe other. Springs n and n, secured to the pivots, hold theabutments ina line vertical to the engine-axis and with one Wing touching the outercylinder, While the other contacts withA the rotary piston. Thepiston-cylinder is provided With lugsp andp, tting the steamchambers andconsisting, preferably, of tubular steam-packin g or other suitablematerial secu red to a spring,which holds the lug against the bore ofthe outer cylinder. The lugs are ydesigned tojdisplace the abutments byimpact and cause them to rotate or oscillate with every turn of thepiston, and they are so arranged that when one abutment is opened theother will be closed, thus preventing a dead-center. This may be eectedby placing one pair of either the abutments or the lugs With one out ofalinemeut with the other of the same pair.

An opening which I Will term the transranged in combination with theexhaust-ports as follows: An inlet-port t' and an exhaustport e openinto the iirst chamber at-the right of the abutment O, and similar portsfr" and e open into the second chamber at the left of abutment C. Thuseach steam-chamber is provided with a supply and an exhaust port on theopposite side of the abutment to the entrance of the transfer-passage. Atubular shaft I is journaled in the piston-cylinder and remainsstationary during the rotation of the engine.

according to the direction in which the engine moves. An eXhaust-valveEis'iitted in the partition and provided with an aperture h, adapted toregister With the exhaust-ports e and e', and thus Withdraw the expandedThe shaftis provided with an aper-` `ture adapted toregister With eitherinlet-port,

steam from either chamber. The lever L is fulcrumed on -the side of theengine and may turn or reverse the exhaust-valve by means of a rack andgear, as shown in Fig. 3, and it also moves the supply-shaft by means ofbevelsgears either longitudinally to direct live steam into eitherchamber or it may be rotated to bring its aperture in register with theinlet-port, as may be necessary in starting the engine. The shaft isrotatably held in a sleeve which carries the gear attached to the lever,and the other gear-wheel is fixed to the shaft, as shown. A pulley-shafts extends outwardly from the piston and affords means for thetransmission of power by pulley or otherwise.

In Figs. t and 5 the exhaust-Valve E is iitted in a bore parallel to theengine-axis and directly secured to the hand-lever, by which it may bedrawn in or out to open either exhaust-port. I do not limit myself toplacing either the exhaust valve or ports in any special position, theobject sought being to withdraw steam from each chamber at pointsopposite to one another in relation to the abutments.

To conveniently illustrate the operation ot' the engine, I haveindicated the movement of live steam by a double-arrow mark, thetransfer oi. steam into the second chamber by a single arrow, and thefinal exhaust by a dotted-arrow mark.

In starting the engine the supply-shaft will be moved inwardly to admitsteam through its aperture into the inlet-port fi, and the rotation ofthe piston over the shaft will cut oi the supply after one quarter-turn.The steam then enters the liigli-pressu re chamber to the right of theabutment C, Figs. I and 2, which, being balanced, receives the impactequally on both wings and remains stationary. The steam-pressure on thelug p ro tates the piston-cylinder to the right, and when one revolutionis completed the partially-expanded steam enters the low-pressurechamber at the right of abutment C. The steam expands against p duringanother rotation of the piston and then exhausts from the port c andthrough the aperture 7L of the exhaust-valve E, Figs. 2 and 5. Inreversing the engine the handle of the lever is moved inwardly, and theopposite exhaustport e is opened, and the shaft I is drawn out to directthe steam-jet into the inlet-port t2 The steam then enters the secondchamber for its initial impulse and expands at the left oi' theabutment, rotates the piston to the left, and exhausts from the firstchamber.

In orderthat no dead-center shall occur when starting the engine, thepiston-lugs 1J and p are out of alinement, so that one precedes theother in passing an abutment, as shown in Figs. a and 5. In this caseassume the engine at rest, with the lug p under the abutment C, and itis desired to start the engine to the right. The steam entering theinlet-port t would have no effect on, the iu g p.

It will, however, pass through d and d into the second chamber, and theabutment C being closed allows the steam to expand between it and thesecond lug p', thereby starting the engine. Vhen the first lugp is movedsufficiently to allow the abutment C to assume its normal position, thesteamjet from the same port twill at once act in the first chamber andagainst the lug p, entering the second chamber only after the firstexpansion is completed.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the abutment is modified and arranged to rotate onequarterturn with every stroke of the piston. The exhaust and inlet portsare placed in the inner cylinder, and the exhaust-valve as well as thesupplypipe are fitted in the journal ot` the engine, and both aremovable longitudinally to open their respective ports. In this case theouter cylinder carries the piston-lug, a side view oi which is shown atFig. 8.

I claim- 1. A rotary engine comprising a stationary cylinder or body,annular steam-chambers, one arranged for high pressure and the other forlow pressure, an abutmentin each chamber, a rotary piston having a lugfitting each chamber, said lugs being out of alinement with each other,a passage connecting one steain-chamberat the left with the otherchamber at the right of the said abutments, an inlet and an exhaust portopening from each chamber on the opposite side of the abutment to theentrance oi' the said passage, a supplypipe adapted to admit steam intoeither inletport, and an exliaust-valve arranged to withdraw steam fromeither exhaust-port, substantially as described.

2. A rotary engine comprising a stationary cylinder or body, an annularpartition separating two steam-chambers, said chambers arranged for highand low pressure, a movable abutment pivoted in each chamber, a rotarypiston concentric with the said stationary cylinder and having a lugfitting each chamber, said lugs being out of alinement with each other,a passage connecting one steamschamber at the left with the otherchamber at the right of the said abutments, an exhaust-port in eachchamber on the opposite side of the abutment to the entrance of the saidpassage, inlet-ports arranged to admit steam into one chamber at theleft and into the other chamber at the right of the said piston-lugs andbetween the lug and the abutment, a supplyshaft journaled in the engineand arranged to admit steam into either inlet-port, an exhaust-valveadapted to withdraw steam from either exhaust-port, and a lever engagingthe said shaft and exhaust-valve and adapted to move them for thepurpose of opening or closing the said inlet or exhaust ports,substantially as described.

EDWARD FORBES PICKICTT.

NVitnesses:

ELLA J. BLACKMAN, L. W. Dniiitind.

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